Pleasant Valley program to celebrate black history
Event will look at Fort Dodge’s past and how area has changed
As a way to celebrate Black History Month, the Pleasant Valley yesterday and today program will offer attendees a glimpse into the past of what an area known as the flats were like in Fort Dodge, according to Sherry Washington, one of the organizers of the program.
“The flats is the name of Pleasant Valley because it was the flattest part of town,” Washington said.
Washington, of Fort Dodge, said many of the old pictures that will be shown demonstrate that the area was not as segregated as people sometimes think.
“It was a community of Caucasian and African-Americans,” Washington said. “Over time it became more of an African-American community, but in the pictures it shows mixed.”
According to Washington, annual summer street dances used to fill the block with people from all ages and nationalities.
A slideshow presentation as well as guest speakers will be part of the program.
The event will be held Feb. 25 at the Fort Dodge Public Library.
The program, which is free and open to the public, will run from 11 a.m. to noon in the conference room.
One of the guest speakers will be Charlene Washington, Sherry Washington’s mother.
Charlene Washington moved to Fort Dodge in 1964 from Mississippi.
In the 1970s, she helped orchestrate a movement that led to African-American teachers teaching black history in Fort Dodge schools.
Sherry Washington said her mother has been celebrating the rich history of African-Americans for most of her life.
“She has been at this a really long time,” Sherry Washington said. “She was always doing different things every year for black history. She grew up in Mississippi and that’s what they did every year. That was recognized down in the south long before coming north.”
Sherry Washington said her parents taught her at a young age the importance of respecting everyone.
“It’s always been rooted in me that we all respect each other, no matter what your race was,” Sherry Washington said. “That’s how our household always was.”
She said it’s evident that people from different races have interacted through the years.
“For me, with our families being so blended now — there’s not too many families you run into that is just one race across the board,” Sherry Washington said. “There is either some African-American, or Hispanic or Asian mixed with someone’s family”
“It shows we have evolved over the years,” she said. “People have interacted with each other and people do have an interest or some attraction in other races and that’s a beautiful thing.”
Because of her parents’ influence, Sherry Washington said she teaches her younger family members the same values.
“I have seven nieces and nephews, and five are biracial,” she said. “I want them to know both sides and embrace both sides and be very proud of where they came from, from all roots of their family.”
“With that being said, I couldn’t do a program without my mom,” Sherry Washington added.
State Rep. Helen Miller, D-Fort Dodge, and Charles Clayton, Athletics For Education and Success executive director, will also be guest speakers during the hour-long program.